1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus that employs an electrophotographic system, such as a copier and a printer.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, devices that utilize a corona discharge phenomenon, such as scorotron chargers, have come to be widely used as charge devices in image forming apparatus that employ the electrophotographic system, such as copiers and printers. But in the case of charge devices utilizing the corona discharge phenomenon, the occurrence of ozone and nitrogen oxide, which are harmful to humans and Earth's environment, is becoming a problem. In contrast, contact charging, where a conductive charge roll is brought into direct contact with an image carrier to charge the image carrier, has become mainstream in recent years because there are considerably few occurrences of ozone and nitrogen oxide and it is power-efficient.